Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church – Kitchener, ON

Proper Title

Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church fonds

Dates of Creation

1925–2001, 2012

Physical Description

81.5 cm of textual records, 48 photographs, and 4 microfilm reels

Administrative History

Mennonites from Russia arrived at the Erb Street Mennonite Church, Waterloo, in July 1924. That year these Mennonites met for worship in homes in the area including New Dundee, St. Jacobs, and Baden. In 1925, the congregation was organized as the Molotschna Mennonite Brethren Church of Kitchener with 18 charter members. They met to worship alternately in St. Jacobs and at the Bethany Mennonite Church in Kitchener. Later in 1925 they settled in rented facilities in Kitchener.

In 1935, the congregation purchased their own meeting house in Kitchener. The membership was 178 in 1942. This building was used until 1953, when the present meeting house was built in Kitchener. In 1953, the membership stood at 356. This building was expanded in 1956. During the 1950s, it absorbed members from the Hespeler and New Hamburg congregations that dissolved. From 1955 to 1964, the Ontario MB Bible School was located in the new education wing added to the new meeting house. In 1961, the Zion MB Church was an outgrowth of this congregation. The membership was 427 in 1961 and 394 in 1967. In 1967, the Waterloo MB Church was another outgrowth. In 1971, they again expanded the meeting house building. In 1980, the membership was 450. In the 1980s, another congregation was formed in the Kitchener area, the Glencairn congregation. In 2000, the membership stood at 427.

Custodial History

Records were transferred to the Centre for MB Studies archives in Winnipeg, Manitoba on a regular basis to 2001. Some records were microfilmed in 1978 through the work of the Historical Commission of the Mennonite Brethren Conference. In 2010, files were sent over from the Mennonite Archives of Ontario.

Notes

Volumes 545–550, 1351.

Finding aid consists of a series description and a file list is available.

Finding aid: The records are classified under the Canadian Conference of MB Churches inventory BD-505.

Described by Bert Friesen, October 11, 2001; microfilm file list adapted from a previous finding aid by Leslie Wiebe, June 2003; updated by Yvonne Snider-Nighswander March 7, 2012, May 11, 2012; updated by Kate Woltmann, August 2014.

Accession no.: 2010-007; 2012-04.

Series Descriptions

This series consists of the early congregational history, statistical records, official correspondence, and early congregational meeting minutes (1925–1965), Liedersammlung - ziffern notation (1934), a brief congregational history (1985) and a 25th anniversary booklet of the congregational choir (1956), a congregational historical sketch ([197-]), and a 50th anniversary celebration programme (1975).

This series consists of congregational pulpit committee meeting minutes and correspondence, Sunday school committee, Education committee, church council, music committee, congregational meeting minutes and annual reports including the proposed Waterloo congregation.

This series consists of interviews, newspaper clippings, maps and a manuscript compiled by Anne Wiebe. Anne was preparing to write a book on the history of the Mennonite Brethren Churches of Ontario. Some of the edits were made as late as 2007, but as far as we can tell the book was never published.